Some random to end April

Tara sent a box with children's books and Easter eggs. The eggs were a big hit in the office. Jenni and one of the TA's, Nghia, tried juggling them.

This isn't really related to anything. I just saw this Catholic church today while I was out and wanted to take a picture of it. It's pretty.


Phượng and I got a flat tire riding around today. Here's the guy beating on a little patch. It cost roughly the equivilent of $1.00.

Here is my student "Pedro." He made me a goose out of paper. It was one of those times when you're not sure if you should be thankful for the gift, or angry that he was folding paper instead of doing the work in the book.

On Easter, I went to a Vietnamese fellowship with one of my friends, "Sarah." There was over an hour of singing and I have never heard hymns sung in Vietnamese before. It was really cool! I think I understood some of the message, but it was Easter... I filled in a lot of the blanks myself.

Here is Sarah at the meal afterwards. Very cool girl.

And me.

Since going home myschedule has changed a lot. New foreigner teachers have come in and taken over some of my classes. Jenni and I both have been doing a lot of testing and subbing. I MISS teaching!

Tonight, my former student Selena saw me at the copier and came over to say hey. She showed me the instant noodles she was eating and offered me some. I told her my stomach wasn't feeling great, so no thanks.

She said, "Oh, you have a stomach-quake?"
Oh, you mean a stomach ache?

"No! stomach quake. It's like an earthquake. I just made this word."

Also, in case there is any doubt that I'm having an impact here, I went into test a level 7 tonight and my student proudly showed me what she had done: pierced her nose.

Roommate April

These are Jenni's feet getting a "fish massage," in Thailand over the Tết Holiday. She said it was terrible, just tickled and didn't help. "Felt weird and cost a lot," she said.








Here she is again. This is a perfect picture to describe my roommate.



Jenni is very close with some of our neighbors and she's visited them in their hometown in Dà Nẵng, and this holiday weekend, she is with them in Dà Lạt.

She's really really great at being with people and doing whatever they want her to do or eat or whatever. She's up for anything, always polite, and people have commented to me that she is always so happy!

Jenni also deserves recognition for the classes that she's teaching. Somehow-- and I honestly don't know how this happened to her--- she has been chosen to teach kitty classes 3 DAYS A WEEK! If you have ever taught one, then you should know that it's one of the hardest things you could ever do.

It's not teaching really. It's more like babysitting lots of kids who speak another language and probably haven't been subject to the same kind of discipline that we're used to in America. And Jenni often does this without air condition.

I asked her to take a camera and take a picture for my blog about her. She took these 2. No time for anything else.

I taught kitty last year and it was horrible, but not 3 days a week. No thank you.

MAD props to Jenni.

More Pictures of Tori

Baby Tori (at 1 year old)

Her amazing curl that I covet

post-surgery with her grandpa

Defending her cheerios from her other granddad

Looking at the chickens with one of her grandmas

She smiled at her mom, but when I tried to get a picture, she stopped smiling

(typical Jones)

And her dad

And her aunt Carolyn

Some normal stuff

I'm going to take a cue from Jillann here and write about some of the things that happen every day that I might not think to write about.

I was riding on my bike yesterday, struggling with my skirt, concerned that it was riding up as I rode. I felt a hand cup my butt and I quickly turned back and it was my friend Phượng. "Stop worry," she said. "Nobody look at you!"

"Not true," I told her. "Everyone is looking at me. I just can't figure out if they're looking at my white face or my skirt!"

Phượng and I went to Dam Sen Water Park. Jenni met us a little later because she had to teach. It was like 'kids day' or something because it was packed with little unsupervized children running around yelling HELLO! at us and bumping us with their inner tubes. They finally left and all of a sudden the park seemed empty! It was a good time.

One ride called "Boomerang" is my favorite and we did that a couple of times. obviously, it goes back and forth a few times, but the first drop is my favorite.


For the past few weeks, I've gotten finished early, or after the first shift on Fridays. I prepare for my Saturday classes and then ride my bike over the bridge to get my doner kebab. Trey showed me these the first time in Germany. In Vietnam, they're called Bánh mì tâm giác, or triangle sandwich. The pita is in the shape of a triangle.

The man who makes them is Mr. Nguyên (same as about 60% of all men in this country) and we always make casual small talk in Vietnamese when I go. He usually comments on how long it has been since I've bought a triangle sandwich from him, and don't I like them? I assure him that I love them and he smiles because he just wanted to hear me say that.

Then he compliments my Vietnamese (out of politeness) and I say no, it's terrible. Then he hands me my triangle sandwich and asks me where I work. I tell him (I swear I tell him every time), and we talk until he gives me my change and then I'm on my way. I love his triangle sandwiches.

I played a love song for my 10-12 year old students this morning. They loved it. They love Backstreet boys and anything that sounds like boy bands or pop. They are one of the highest levels that study on Saturday mornings and a couple of the boys are really strong in English.

I asked them, "How old do you need to be to have a boyfriend or girlfriend?"

-"20"

-"16"

-"18"

-"I will never love."

Those were just a few responses, but I had to pause to write down the last one so I wouldn't forget. That was from my student named Strike, who has a very deep raspy voice for a 12 year old and sings loudly to any song I play.

Later on I asked them how old they think I am. One of my students who had me in a previous class yelled, 25! And Beef, another student said quietly under his breath, "That's why you're getting married..."

Coconut lady and Selena's Message

This woman is a good friend of ours. She has a little stand where she sells noodles, cigarettes, coconuts, and a random assortment of other things (She's the one from whom I bought that lighter and she slapped me on my rear). Erica and I began calling her "coconut lady" last year because we have no idea what her name is. I suppose I could have just asked, but I didn't, and at this point in our relationship, I'm just too embarassed.

She has sort of taken us under her wing and often gives us bags of fruit on the way home from school. Her sister-in-law has a rice stand and it's very cheap. It's the closest rice stand to our house, which is great! Except on those days where we don't want to eat there. Then we have to walk or ride our bikes past the stand, with 2 sisters and one sister-in-law inquiring as to where we're going and why don't we want to eat there.

They used to serve just chicken and fish. So I told them that we couldn't eat there one day because I wanted pork. The next: they were serving pork. I really love this lady. I was riding my bike home on Wednesday after I got back and she was in the street. She saw me and let out a WHOOP and reached to slap my hand. I didn't stop, but I smiled for a long time after.

Our communication is not that great. As a general rule, I have trouble understanding anyone in our neighborhood over the age of 50. Last night I stopped at her stand and told her that when I was at home, my boyfriend asked me to have a wedding. ('he asked me to marry him' has way too many pronouns and I actually don't even know the verb 'to marry') So in August, I will have a husband. She asked if we'll get married in Vietnam.

Maybe not, I said.

That was it. She gestured for me to be careful or someone would steal my ring. She laughed and made her usual smirk at me while muttering something incomprehensible to me. I smiled, pleased with her response, which was about what I expected from her. Coconut lady is happy for me!

These are 2 of my former students: Gloria and Selena. I love them a lot. They love me too, in fact. Maybe a little over the top. Ok, who am i kidding... I love it...

Selena has taken to calling me her 'darling.' She wanted to make this video for Francois before I went home to send him a message. Here's the script if you're having trouble understanding:

" 1...2...3.. HELLO FRAN-SWAAA

I like the necklace you gave Carolyn. --So do I!

But be careful! She's my darling. Okay... Stay away from her.

And I'm really jealous (as Gloria says 'Have a nice day') so, bye!"

the actual news

I never dreamed that I would actually blog about something like this, but this seems like the best way to get information out quickly, confirming rumors, asking some people not to make any huge plans in late August 2011.

I went home and got myself engaged!

If you want to know any more, you'll just have to email me. The short version involves a ring, some rain, the coldest weather I've seen in a couple of years, and the rest of my life.

Some News

Ok, so I kept it a little hush hush, but I decided-- very last minute-- to go home for two weeks. Many of you know about this already and then you probably know that I went home to be with people, and especially 2 people: Tori and Francois.

I actually got back here last night after flying from Atlanta, to Chicago, to Tokyo, and finally to Ho Chi Minh around 11pm. Right when we landed in Tokyo there was a sudden tremor. It really wasn't a big deal itself-- no damage that I saw at all. But when the woman walking next to me said the word, "earthquake," and I saw people running to stand against the walls, I noticed the building shaking under me. I seriously just thought it was supposed to be shaking as we got off the plane; it felt like a metal walkway with a lot of people getting on a boat; just kind of bouncing.

But no problems, just a story that makes me sound tougher than I am. I was rushed to get on the last leg of my journey so I didn't have too much time to think about how I might not want my next flight to fly through Tokyo. The rest was uneventful. I watched several movies, though no good ones, read a lot, and thought about my trip home that was WONDERFUL and I wish lasted longer much longer than 2 weeks!

My niece Tori (who now says mama and dada and bye bye and can growl and give high fives) had another surgery. This time it was to fix her legs. Here she is a couple of days before her surgery. Here she is after her 3 hour surgery, during which she did superbly. Now she has 2 casts from her toes to her upper thighs. She was upset and looked scared when the nurses wheeled her in, but she was smiling in no time. Such a tough girl! And here she is a few days after. Cute as ever, as if she wasn't wearing heavy casts that majorly restrict movement for the next month. Tori, Trey, and Tara are my heroes. Seriously. Then there's Francois. We started "dating" in July 2010 and since I've been in Vietnam, we've been apart for nearly 8 months. We email, skype, and sometimes talk on the phone. We also write letters and about a month ago, he showed me a shoebox where he keeps all of his letters from me. I thought that was hilarious because I also keep my letters from him in a shoebox. What are the odds? Also, he's South African. Africans like to carry things on their heads. Never fear, there will be many more pictures from this visit!

Below is a video of Tori after surgery. She was upset and even threw up. Then she was fine.